Al Oerter

Al Oerter (Alfred Adolph Oerter Jr., 19 September 1936 to 1 October 2007) was an American discus thrower who became the first athlete to win a gold medal in the same individual event at four consecutive Olympic Games. Born in Astoria, Queens, and raised in New Hyde Park, he took up throwing at fifteen, earned a scholarship to the University of Kansas and won the NCAA discus title in 1957 and 1958. He won Olympic gold in Melbourne in 1956, Rome in 1960, Tokyo in 1964 and Mexico City in 1968, setting an Olympic record each time after the first, and in 1964 he competed through a neck injury and torn rib cartilage. He also set his first world record in 1962, becoming the first thrower to pass 200 feet, and reached a personal best of 69.46 metres in 1980 at the age of 43. He carried the Olympic flag in 1984 and the Olympic flame into the stadium in 1996, and is an inductee of the IAAF Hall of Fame.